ISBN0 86803 695 1
Information Literacy Standards
First edition
Canberra
Council of Australian University Librarians
2001
Council of Australian University Librarians
These standards may be freely used, translated into languages other than English, and adapted for non-commercial purposes, subject to acknowledgment of their US and Australian provenance. A copy of any such usage is requested, to Information Literacy Standards, University of South Australia Library, Holbrooks Road, Underdale, South Australia 5032.
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Information Literacy Standards
The first edition of these standards derives from the US Information literacy standards for higher education approved by the Association of College and Research Libraries in January 2000, and subsequently endorsed by the American Association for Higher Education and US accreditation bodies.
The US standards were reviewed at a national workshop initiated and conducted 22-23 September 2000 by the University of South Australia for the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL). The 62 participants were representative of Australian and New Zealand universities, the schools sector, the Technical and Further Education sector, the Council of Australian State Libraries and the Australian Library and Information Association. In reviewing the standards, consideration was given to the implications of Australian research, theory elaboration and practice which may not have been available or accessed when the US standards were developed. The relational model of information literacy1 was considered in this context.
Permission to use and vary the US standards2 has been granted by the Association of College and Research Libraries. The major difference between the US and Australian versions is the addition of two standards. The new standard four addresses the ability to control and manipulate information. Standard seven represents information literacy as the intellectual framework which provides the potential for lifelong learning.
At its Canberra meeting 27-28 October 2000 the Council of Australian University Librarians approved the revision of the US standards as Information literacy standards. The intended primary application is to higher education, but they may be applied to other educational sectors.
Endorsement and promulgation of the standards by policy makers, educational institutions, professional and educational associations is encouraged. They may be freely used and adapted for a specific context, subject to acknowledgment of their US and Australian provenance. Information literacy standards is a ‘living’ document. It will alter to reflect the prevailing information and education environment. Suggestions for changes for the 2003 second edition are invited, using the form at the end of this publication.
Information literacy defined
Information literacy is an understanding and set of abilities enabling individuals to ‘recognise when information is needed and have the capacity to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information’.3 An information literate person is able to
- recognise a need for information
- determine the extent of information needed
- access the needed information efficiently
- evaluate the information and its sources
- incorporate selected information into their knowledge base
- use information effectively to accomplish a purpose
- understand economic, legal, social and cultural issues in the use of information
- access and use information ethically and legally
- classify, store, manipulate and redraft information collected or generated
- recognise information literacy as a prerequisite for lifelong learning
Information literacythe need
Information literacy is required because of proliferating information access and resources. Individuals are faced with diverse, abundant information choicesin their studies, in the workplace, and in their lives. Information is available through community resources, special interest organisations, manufacturers and service providers, media, libraries, and the internet. Increasingly, information comes unfiltered. This raises questions about authenticity, validity, and reliability. In addition, information is available through multiple media, including graphical, aural, and textual. These pose special challenges in evaluating, understanding and using information in an ethical and legal manner. The uncertain quality and expanding quantity of information also pose large challenges for society. Sheer abundance of information and technology will not in itself create more informed citizens without a complementary understanding and capacity to use information effectively.
Information literacy and lifelong learning
Information literacy is a prerequisite for lifelong learning and is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to engage critically with content and extend their investigations, become more self directed, and assume greater control over their own learning.
A 1999 report of the US National Research Council4 promotes the concept of ‘fluency’ with information technology and delineates several distinctions useful in understanding relationships within information literacy, computer literacy, and broader technological competence. The report notes that ‘computer literacy’ is concerned with rote learning of specific hardware and software applications, while ‘fluency with technology’ focuses on understanding the underlying concepts of technology and applying problem solving and critical thinking to using technology. It also discusses differences between information technology fluency and information literacy as it is understood in K-12 and higher education. Among these are information literacy’s focus on content, communication, analysis, information searching, and evaluation; whereas information technology ‘fluency’ focuses on a deep understanding of technology and graduated, increasingly skilled, use.
With digitisation of scholarly publications and the growth in online delivery, ‘fluency’ with information technology requires more intellectual abilities than the rote learning of software and hardware associated with ‘computer literacy’.The focus is still, however, on the technology itself. Information literacy, on the other hand, is an intellectual framework for recognising the need for, understanding, finding, evaluating, and using informationactivities which may be supported in part by fluency with information technology, in part by sound investigative methods, but most importantly, through critical discernment and reasoning. Information literacy initiates, sustains, and extends lifelong learning through abilities that may use technologies but are ultimately independent of them.
Information literacy and higher education
Developing lifelong learners is central to the mission of higher and other educational institutions, and is increasingly reflected in descriptions of graduate qualities. Information literacy extends learning beyond formal classroom settings and supports individuals in self directed learning in all arenas of life.
By ensuring that individuals can think critically, and by helping them construct a framework for learning how to learn, educational institutions provide the foundation for continued growth throughout their careers, as well as in their roles as informed citizens and members of communities.
Information resources are increasingly available online. Flexible delivery, online or print based, requires the development of the information literacy of the learner.
Incorporating information literacy across curricula, and in all programs and services, requires the collaborative efforts of academics, staff developers, learning advisers, librarians and administrators.
- Through course materials, lectures and by leading face to face or online discussions, academics establish the context for learning. They also inspire students to explore the unknown, offer guidance on how best to fulfil information needs, and monitor student progress.
- Librarians coordinate the evaluation and selection of intellectual resources for programs and services; organise, and maintain collections and points of access to information; and provide advice and coaching to students and academic staff who seek information.
- Learning advisers develop generic and course specific materials to support student learning and provide a range of services related to transition to university, and academic literacyreading, writing, listening and speaking in a university setting, time and task management, and learning in an online environment.
- Administrators and staff developers facilitate opportunities for collaboration and staff development among academics, learning advisers, librarians, and other professionals who provide students with opportunities to develop their information literacy according to their developmental level, mode of study and information needs.
Information literacy and pedagogy
The 1994 Australian National Board of Employment, Education and Training report Developing lifelong learners through undergraduate education notes that ‘learning to learn’ is a major concern of all educational sectors and that
It involves the higher order skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation, the ability to think critically, to construct meaning and reconstruct understanding in the lightof new learning experiences. Courses where reflective practice is central inevitably help students develop into independent learners much more readily than those whose focus is on the acquisition of a large body of knowledge.5
Information literacy development multiplies the opportunities for self directed learning, as students become engaged in using a wide variety of information sources to expand their knowledge, ask informed questions, and sharpen their critical thinking for still further self directed learning. Achieving information literacy fluency requires an understanding that such development is not extraneous to the curriculum but is woven into its content, structure, and sequence. Information literacy is a validated construct6 which can be incorporated in the instructional design of programs.This curricular integration also affords many possibilities for furthering the influence and impact of student centred teaching methods such as problem based learning, evidence based learning, and inquiry learning. Guided by academics and others in problem based approaches, students reason about course content at a deeper level than is possible through the exclusive use of lectures, textbooks and collections of readings. To take fullest advantage of problem based learning, students must often use thinking skills requiring them to become effective users of information sources in many locations and formats, thereby increasing their responsibility for their own learning.
Students have many information options available to obtain the information they seek for their research. One is an information retrieval system, such as may be found in a library or online databases from any location. Another option is to select an investigative method for observing phenomena directly. In many professions, practitioners depend upon physical examination to gain information about particular phenomena. Practitioners may also utilise technologies such as statistical software or simulators to create artificial conditions in which to observe and analyse the interaction of phenomena. As students progress through their undergraduate years and graduate programs, they need to have repeated opportunities for seeking, evaluating, managing, and applying, information gathered from multiple sources and obtained from discipline specific research methods.
Use of the standards
These standards provide a framework for embedding information literacy in the design and teaching of educational programs,and forassessing the information literate individual. They extend the information literacy progress of educators, teacher librarians and librarians, in the school and Technological and Further Education sectors. This provides higher education with an opportunity to articulate the standards with those of the other education sectors so that a continuum of expectation can be developed for students at all levels. The standards outline the process by which academics, librarians, and others, pinpoint specific indicators which identify a student as information literate.
Students also will find the standards useful, because they provide a framework for their interaction with information in their environment. This will help to develop their awareness of the need for a metacognitive approach to learning, making them conscious of the explicit actions required for recognition of need, gathering, analysing, and using information. All students are expected to demonstrate all of the standards, but not everyone will demonstrate them to the same level or at the same time
Some disciplines may place greater emphasis on the mastery of specifics of the standards at certain points in the process. Certain specifics would therefore receive greater weight than others in any rubric for curriculum design. Many of the specifics are likely to be performed recursively, in that the reflective and evaluative aspects included within each standard will require the students to return to an earlier point in the process, revise the information seeking approach, and repeat the steps. The standards are not intended to represent a linear approach to information literacy.
To implement them fully, an institution should first review its mission and educational goals to determine how information literacy would improve learning and enhance the institution’s effectiveness. To foster acceptance of the concept, staff development is important for academics and librarians in particular.
Information literacy and assessment
The seven standards describe outcomes and examples for assessing student progress towards becoming information literate. The outcomes serve as guidelines for academics, librarians, and others in developing local methods for measuring student learning within an institution’s unique mission. The standards focus upon the needs of students in higher education at all levels. Information literacy manifests itself in the specific understanding of the knowledge creation, scholarly activity, and publication processes found within different disciplines. Academics, instructional designers and librarians should therefore work together to develop assessment instruments and strategies in the context of particular disciplines.
In implementing these standards, recognition is needed that different levels of thinking skills are associated with various learning outcomes. Different instruments or methods are essential to assess those outcomes. For example, both ‘higher order’ and ‘lower order’ thinking skills, based on Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational objectives,7 are evident throughout the standards. Assessment methods appropriate to the thinking skills associated with each outcome should be identified as an integral part of the institution’s implementation plan.
The following outcomes illustrate ‘higher order’ and ‘lower order’ thinking skills
‘Lower order’ thinking skills
Outcome 2.2.2 Identifies keywords, synonyms, and related terms for the information needed
‘Higher order’ thinking skills
Outcome 5.2.2 Extends initial synthesis, when possible, at a higher level of abstraction to construct new hypotheses that may require additional information
Academics, librarians, and others will find that discussing assessment methods collaboratively is very productive in planning a systematic approach to integrating contextualised information literacy experience into curricula. Assessment strategies should reach all students, pinpoint areas for further development, and consolidate learning goals already achieved. They also should make explicit to the institution’s constituencies how information literacy contributes to improved learning outcomes and helps to produce graduates with the capacity for lifelong learning.
References
1Bruce, C The relational approach: a new model for information literacy The New review of information and library research vol 3 1997 pp1 – 22
2The Association of College and Research Libraries Information literacy competencystandards for higher education ACRL, Chicago 2000
3American Library Association Presidential committee on information literacy. Final report American Library Association, Chicago 1989 <
4National Research Council. Commission on physical sciences, mathematics, and applications. Committee on information technology literacy, computer science and telecommunications board, 1999. Being fluent with information technology National Academy Press, Washington DC <
5Candy, P, Crebert, G, & O’Leary, J Developing lifelong learners through undergraduate education AGPS, Canberra 1994 pp100-101
6Catts, R Confirmation of phases in the relational model of information literacy, in Proceedings of the first international lifelong learning conference, Yeppoon, Queensland 17-19 July 2000 Auslib Press, Adelaide 2000 pp176-180
7Bloom BS Taxonomy of educational objectives: the classification of educational goals Longman Group, London 1956
Standards and Outcomes
Standard One
The information literate person recognises the need for information and determines the nature and extent of the information needed
Outcomes
1.1The information literate person defines and articulates the need for information
Examples
1.1.1Confers with others, including peers and experts, and participates in face to face and electronic discussions with peers to identify a research topic, or other information need
1.1.2Explores general information sources to increase familiarity with the topic
1.1.3Identifies key concepts and terms by mapping the information need and from that formulates and focuses questions
1.1.4Defines or modifies the information need to achieve a manageable focus
1.1.5Recognises that information can be combined with original thought, experimentation, and/or analysis to produce new information
1.1.6Identifies their existing knowledge framework
1.2The information literate person understands the purpose, scope and appropriateness of a variety of information sources
Examples
1.2.1Understands the formal and informal processes of information production and knows how information is organised and disseminated
1.2.2Recognises that knowledge can be organised into disciplines that influence the way information is produced, organised and accessed within and across disciplines
1.2.3Differentiates between, and values the variety of potential sources of informationeg people, agencies, multimedia, database, website, dataset, audiovisual, book
1.2.4Identifies the intended purpose and audience of potential resources eg popular vs scholarly, current vs historical
1.2.5Differentiates between primary and secondary sources, recognising how their use and importance vary with each discipline
1.2.6Realises that information may need to be constructed with raw data from primary sources
1.3The information literate person consciously considers the costs and benefits of acquiring the needed information